Recently, I had the opportunity to do an interview with The Legacy Project. Their questions were great— thought provoking and fun. Among them was, “What is the best advice you’ve ever received?” So many people responded positively to my answer (see below) that I thought I’d send it along, along with a few other of their questions and my answers. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who struggles with being anxious…
1. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received was given to me when I started my own business. At that point one of my clients said to me, “When you work for yourself, there is never the ‘right’ amount of work—there is always too much or too little—so you will always be anxious. Given that, you need to change your attitude about feeling anxious from ‘Oh no! I’m anxious!’ to ‘Yay! I’m anxious! It means I’m alive!’
2. What are the characteristics of success?
- A prompt and continuous use of “Thank you” is critical. Anytime anyone refers a client to me, one of my first questions is, “How did you hear about my work?” That person gets a thank you note regardless of whether the connection pans out. Not only is it polite, it keeps them motivated to keep referring people to me.
- A passion outside my day-to-day work has been critical. I practice Ashtanga yoga 6 days a week—it provides enormous mental and physical strength.
- The willingness to back my own talent. This came very late in my life—for years I was happy making others’ dreams come true. But when you do that, who is making yours come true? At some point you have to do for yourself what you are willing to do for other.
3. What lessons have you learned?
When I first started my company, one of my biggest clients took me out to breakfast and said, “Here is what nobody tells you: there is plenty of room at the top, so come on up.” That blew my mind. I think about it almost every day.
To read the full interview, click here: http://www.thelegacyproject.co.za/frances-cole-jones-author-president-cole-media-management/
Frances Cole Jones
